Olduvai Gorge

For this second volume of the definitive publication of the Olduvai findings, Professor Tobias has undertaken a definitive analysis of the cranium.

P. V. Tobias (Author)

9780521105194, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 June 2009

328 pages
28 x 21 x 1.7 cm, 0.74 kg

On 15 August 1959 Dr L. S. B. Leakey announced the discovery, in the lowest level of Olduvai Gorge, of a new and beautifully preserved fossil cranium of a hominid, which he tentatively named Zinjanthropus boisei. For this second volume, Professor Tobias has undertaken a definitive analysis of the cranium. This is a most comprehensive study to be made on a hominid skull belonging to the early and mid-Pleistocene group of australopithecines. The fossilised skull provides a wealth of information on taxonomic status, way of life and age at death. To evaluate Zinjanthropus fully, the author has reviewed in detail the cranial and dental anatomy of all australopithecines from Tanzania and South Africa and has placed on record much valuable information about the group as a whole.

List of text figures
List of plates
List of tables
Introductory note
Foreword Sir W. E. Le Gros Clark, F.R.S
Editor's notes
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Preservation and reconstruction of the cranium
3. The cranial vault
4. The basis cranii externa
5. Certain critical angles and indices of the cranium
6. The interior of the calvaria
7. The thickness of cranial bones
8. The endocranial cast of Zinjanthropus
9. Metrical characters of the calvaria as a whole
10. The structure of the face
11. The pneumatisation of the Zinjanthropus cranium
12. The dental arcade and the palate
13. The pattern of dental attrition and occlusion, with comments on enamel hypolasia
14. The size of individual teeth, absolute and relative
15. The size of the dentition as a whole
16. The crown shape index of the teeth
17. The morphology of the teeth
18. Summary of cranial and dental features of Zinjanthropus
19. The taxonomic status of Zinjanthropus and of the australopithecines in general
20. The cultural and phylogenetic status of Australopithecus boisei and of the australopithecines in general
References
Indexes.

Subject Areas: Human biology [PSX], Physical anthropology [JHMP]